Chicken fat is lower in saturates than butter; in fact it's 45% monounsaturated.

1 Tbsp (15 ml) chicken fat has ...

115 kcal
0.00 g carbs
0.00 g protein
12.77 g total fat
Cholesterol 11 mg
Fatty acids, total saturated 3.814 g
Fatty acids, total monounsaturated 5.722 g
Fatty acids, total polyunsaturated 2.675 g

To produce mild rendered chicken fat, buy thighs with skin and bone. A "family pack" of 12 thighs will yield at least 175 ml (¾ cup) rendered fat, probably more.

Peel off the skin, and use a knife or kitchen shears to trim clumps of fat. Save the skinless thighs for later use, or freeze. Put the skin and fat in a skillet, and heat over low to medium-low until fat is melted and any watery liquid has evaporated. Don't let the pieces of skin brown (yet ), as this will add a bitter flavour. Drain off the melted fat, then pour through a strainer into a clean jar with lid. This fat will keep for several weeks in the fridge.

Chicken fat is lovely and silky .. great for scrambled eggs or sautéing veggies or even fish

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After the fat is drained, you can then brown the pieces of chicken skin until crispy .. .. drain on paper towels, sprinkle with seasoned salt, and devour!! They're zero carbs, mostly protein, as the fat has been drained off . Wayyyy more nummy than store-bought pork rinds!


Doreen, xo

Luv schmaltz! I can get it at one of my local groceries.

I normally eat roast chicken thighs with the skin on. What could I do with the skinless thighs?

I use skinless thighs in soups (put the thighs in the near done soup and simmer for about 20 minutes, remove thighs, take meat from bone and add back to soup, you can freeze the bones and use them with other bones you might make broth with)

I cook skinless thighs in a tomato/onion/garlic/mushroom/red pepper sauce

They’re also great for curry.

Any kind of saucy dish where you don’t want the sauce to end up as heavy in fat as it would be if you cooked the skin on chicken.

You could also chop the raw meat off of the skinless thighs and use it in a stir fry.(and freeze the bones)

I love grilled skinless thighs. They taste really juicy!

I love chicken fat, too. My MO is to make broth, then remove the hardened fat after it's been in the fridge.

Sometimes I'll buy chicken backs for broth - they're a cheap source of fat. I'll also boil the bones, scraps and pan juices from roasted or crockpot cooked chicken.

Not only is it tasty, but it stretches your food dollar a bit further to save those fats. Consider the price of butter or good cooking oils. It's worth it for me.

You can also make chicken soup with whatever kind of chicken you want (raw whole chicken, leftover roasted bones after eating the meat, raw chicken parts-whatever's cheapest at the store, etc) then after making the soup, put it in the fridge and skim the schmaltz off the top to use as a cooking fat. Chicken fat rendered this way has the added bonus of having the flavor of whatever else you added to the soup (onions, garlic, ginger, etc).

I've bought raw chicken fat in the freezer section (Empire brand) and rendered it myself by adding water and an onion and cooking til the water was gone, then strain into a jar.

Thanks for the ideas - I'm going to have a go at rendering my own chicken fat this weekend! I especially like the sound of doreen T's seasoned crispy chicken skin.

What I like best about using chicken fat (besides how yummy and cheap it is) is that it's natural and healthy. I don't feel so good about using margarine or even vegetable oils. If it's not something my ancestors ate 200 years ago, I wonder what it does to my body.

I KNOW that Jews in Eastern Europe used a lot of schmaltz and other poultry fats in meat dishes, and lots of butter in dairy dishes. Olive oil was available but expensive so used in moderation. And heart disease was almost unheard of.

I had a whole slat of chicken fat the other day after I cooked 4 pkgs of thighs and I seriously thought, "Gee I wonder if I can use this for something". Turns out I can!!! Thanks!